Government and politics

Districts of Luxembourg

Luxembourg is a parliamentary democracy headed by a constitutional
monarch. Under the constitution of 1868, executive power is
exercised by the Grand Duke
and the cabinet, which consists
of several other ministers. The Governor has the power to dissolve
the legislature and reinstate a new one,
as long as the Grand Duke has judicial approval. However, since
1919, sovereignty has resided with the Supreme Court.

Legislative power is vested in the Chamber of Deputies, a
unicameral legislature of sixty members,
who are directly elected to five-year terms from four constituencies. A
second body, the Council
of State (Conseil d'État), composed of twenty-one
ordinary citizens appointed by the Grand Duke, advises the Chamber
of Deputies in the drafting of legislation.

The Grand
Duchy has three lower tribunals (justices de paix; in
Esch-sur-Alzette, the city of Luxembourg, and Diekirch), two district tribunals (Luxembourg and Diekirch)
and a Superior Court of Justice (Luxembourg), which includes the
Court of Appeal and the Court of Cassation. There is also an
Administrative Tribunal and an Administrative Court, as well as a
Constitutional Court, all of which are located in the
capital.

Military

The contribution of Luxembourg makes to its defence and to NATO
consists of a small army (currently consisting
of around 800 people). As a landlocked country, it has no navy.

Luxembourg also lacks an air force, though
the seventeen NATO AWACS aeroplanes are for
convenience registered as aircraft of Luxembourg. In accordance with a
joint agreement with Belgium, both
countries have put forth funding for one A400M military cargo plane, currently on
order.Luxembourg still jointly maintains three
NATO Boeing 707 model TCAs (for cargo and
training purposes) based at NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen.

The
northern third of the country is known as the 'Oesling', and forms part of the Ardennes.It is dominated by hills and low mountains,
including the Kneiff, which is
the highest point, at 560 metres (1,837 ft).The
region is sparsely populated, with only one town (Wiltz) with a
population of more than four thousand people.

The
southern two-thirds of the country is called the "Gutland", and is more densely populated than the
Oesling. It is also more diverse, and can be divided into
five geographic sub-regions. The Luxembourg plateau, in south-central Luxembourg, is a large, flat,
sandstone formation, and the site of the
city of Luxembourg.Little Switzerland, in the east of Luxembourg, has craggy terrain and
thick forests.The Moselle valley is the lowest-lying region, running along the
south-eastern border.The Red Lands, in the far south and southwest, are Luxembourg's
industrial heartland and home to many of Luxembourg's largest
towns.

Demographics

Ethnicity

The people of Luxembourg are called Luxembourgers. The native population has a
Celtic base with a French and Germanic blend. The immigrant
population increased in the twentieth century due to the arrival of
immigrants from Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, and
Portugal, with the majority coming from this last
country. In 2001 census, there were 58,657 inhabitants with
Portuguese nationality.
Since the
beginning of the Yugoslav wars,
Luxembourg has seen many immigrants from Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Serbia.
Annually, over 10,000 new immigrants arrive in Luxembourg, mostly
from EU states, as well and Eastern
Europe. As of 2000, there were 162,000 immigrants in Luxembourg, accounting for 37% of
the total population. There were an estimated 5,000 undocumented
immigrants, including asylum seekers, in Luxembourg as of
1999.

Language

Three
languages are recognised as official in Luxembourg: French, German, and Luxembourgish, a Franconian language of the Moselle region very similar to the local German dialect spoken in the neighbouring
part of Germany, except that it includes more borrowings from
French. So in principle Luxembourgish is a High German
dialect with the status of a national language.Apart from being one
of the three official languages, Luxembourgish is also considered
the national language of the Grand
Duchy; it is the mother tongue or "language of the heart" for
nearly all Luxembourgers.

Each of the three languages is used as the primary language in
certain spheres. Luxembourgish is the language that Luxembourgers
generally speak to each other, but it is not often written down.
Most official (written) business is carried out in French. German
is usually the first language taught in school and is the language
of much of the media and of the church.

Luxembourg's education system is trilingual: the first years of
primary school are in Luxembourgish, before changing to German,
while in secondary school, the language of instruction changes to
French. However, as proficiency in all three languages is required
for graduation from secondary school, half the students leave
school without a certified qualification, with the children of
immigrants being particularly disadvantaged.

In addition to the three official languages, English is taught in the compulsory
schooling and much of the population of Luxembourg can speak
English, at any rate in Luxembourg City. Portuguese and Italian, the languages of the two largest
immigrant communities, are also spoken by
large parts of the population, but by relatively few from outside
their respective communities.

Since 1980 it has been illegal for the government to collect
statistics on religious beliefs or practices. An outdated
estimation by the CIA Factbook for the year 2000 is that 87% of
Luxembourgers are Catholics,
including the royal family, the remaining 13% being made up of
Protestants, Orthodox Christians, Jews, Muslims and those of
other or no religion.

According to the most recent Eurobarometer
Poll 2005, 44% of Luxembourg citizens responded that "they
believe there is a God", whereas 28% answered
that "they believe there is some sort of spirit or life force" and
22% that "they do not believe there is any sort of spirit, god, or
life force".

Economy

Luxembourg's stable, high-income economy features moderate growth, low inflation, and low unemployment. The industrial sector, which was
dominated until the 1960s by steel, has
diversified to include chemicals, rubber, and other products.
During the past decades, growth in the financial sector has more than compensated for the
decline in steel. Services, especially banking and other financial exports, account for the majority
of economic output. Luxembourg is the world's second largest
investment fund center (after the USA), the most important private
banking center in the Eurozone and Europe's
leading center for reinsurance companies.Moreover, the
Luxembourgish government has tried to attract internet start-ups.
Skype, Jajah and eBay are only a few of the many internet companies that
have shifted their local or global headquarters to
Luxembourg.

Agriculture is based on small,
family-owned farms. Luxembourg has especially close trade and
financial ties to Belgium and the
Netherlands (see
Benelux), and as a member of the
EU it enjoys the advantages of the
open European market. Luxembourg
possesses the highest GDP per capita
in the world (US$87,995 as of 2006), the
eighteenth highest Human
Development Index, and the fourth highest rated in the quality of life index. As of March
2006, unemployment is 4.8% of the labor force. For the fiscal year
of 2005 and 2006, Luxembourg has run a budget deficit for the first
time in many years, mostly because of slower international economic
growth.

Transport

Luxembourg has efficient road, rail and air transport facilities
and services. The road network has been significantly modernised in
recent years with 147 km of motorways connecting the capital
to adjacent countries. The advent of the high-speed TGV link to Paris has led to
renovation of the city's railway station while a new passenger terminal at Luxembourg Airport has recently been opened. There are plans to
introduce trams in the capital and light-rail lines in adjacent areas within the
next few years.

Luxembourg was the first city to be named European Capital of Culture
twice. The first time was in 1995. In 2007, the European Capital of
Culture was to be a cross-border area consisting of the Grand Duchy
of Luxembourg, the Rheinland-Pfalz and Saarland in Germany, the
Walloon Region and the German-speaking part of Belgium, and the
Lorraine area in France. The event was an attempt to promote
mobility and the exchange of ideas, crossing borders in all areas,
physical, psychological, artistic and emotional.

Media

For many people in other parts of Europe , Luxembourg is best known
for its radio and television stations, Radio Luxembourg and the RTL Group, Europe's largest TV, radio and
production company. It is also the uplink home of SES Astra, carrier of major European satellite services for
Germany and Britain.

Studies show that the country Luxembourg consumes the most alcohol
per capita, according to Guinness
World Records 2008. In the year 2003, on average 2.8 gallons
(12.6 litres) of pure alcohol was purchased per citizen. This
however is a statistical phenomenon, not actual, as the low taxes
on alcohol, cigarettes and petrol in Luxembourg mean that Belgians,
French and Germans living close to the border buy these products in
Luxembourg, and increase the sales without being counted as
consumers in the statistical analyses.